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Lost: What Kate Did

Kate: "I'm sorry I'm not as perfect as you. I'm sorry I'm not as good."

I'm glad that we now know what she did. It explains a lot about her. But still... I wish her murder had been less ambiguous. I wanted her victim to be a monster, not just a stereotypical wife beater and pathetic loser. I mean, not to get too personal, but I've been in a worse situation than either Kate or her mother, and it didn't drive me to murder. Or maybe there was something else that drove her to it. I didn't quite get what Kate and Sgt. Austen were talking about that happened when Kate was five.

Sawyer's resemblance in type to Wayne, and to what Kate hated about herself, completely explained her schizoid attraction and rejection of Sawyer. At the same time, the damaged child in her always recognized the damaged child in him. They really are well matched, more than I ever realized. Kate has always wanted to be attracted to Jack (hence the surprise jungle smoochies) but I don't think she is.

I wasn't quite sure what to make of Eko, Locke, the Bible, and the missing piece of film. Don't use the computer to communicate? Why not? Because you'll learn something you're not supposed to know? Yes, Scientist Guy said that it might cause another "incident," but were we supposed to believe him? And if the computer didn't work between cycles, how come it worked for Michael? Because "Walt" communicated first?

Lots of Obvious Symbolism this week. First was the removal of Jin's handcuff, symbolic of his alienation from the group due to the language barrier and his initial disagreement with Michael. It was time for the handcuff to go because he is definitely one of the group now. The second was probably Sawyer being possessed, or whatever, by Wayne. The third was the horse. It appeared at the Fugitive-like car accident that set her free, as well as to Kate and Sawyer near the end. Maybe it meant that if Kate allowed herself to love Sawyer, it would set her free. I dunno, I'm groping here.


Character bits:

Still no eye opening scene for Kate.

Kate was 24 years old when she killed her biological father. (Why not 23?) She was on her way to Tallahassee when the marshal got her. Kate's mother and father both gave her up. That was just sad.



We had yet another car accident. (How many does that make?) It was very similar to the plane crash: Kate was in handcuffs and seated to the right of the marshal, who was injured. Kate also got free both times and escaped him.

During the flashbacks, Kate was wearing a Janis Joplin tee-shirt. I'm sure I don't need to point out that Joplin was exceptionally self-destructive and committed suicide. I wonder if it was supposed to symbolize something other than that.


Sayid was not taking Shannon's loss well. He looked terrible.

I think Jack is more attracted to Ana Lucia than to Kate. Why else would he remember what she drank at their one and only encounter, when he was very upset about his father's death?

Jin and Sun have definitely reconciled, in a hut built for two.

Sawyer said, "I love her." Did he mean Kate? Or was he delirious, and possibly thinking of Angelina Jolie or Charlize Theron? Or was he speaking as Wayne?

Was Jack upset about Kate kissing him? Upset that Sawyer loves her? Was that why he was out chopping wood, as Hurley helpfully defined for us as transference? If so, maybe I was wrong about his attraction to Ana Lucia.

Bits and pieces:

— The name credits ran before the title. I don't think that's ever happened before.

— The graveyard is getting distressingly crowded.

— Eko's story about King Josiah, the gold, and the book wasn't familiar to me. Did it mean that knowledge is more useful and powerful than money?

— Are there more spliced pieces of film elsewhere on the Island?

— More Patsy Cline. "Walking After Midnight."

— The countdown was at 23 when Jack and Locke came in.

— The horse reminded me of the classic children's novel, The Black Stallion, by Walter Farley, which was about a shipwreck and a desert island. Could the horse have something to do with the animal experiments, like the polar bears?

— Michael discovered blast doors in the Hatch. Not good.

Quotes:

Hurley: "So Rose's husband's white. Didn't see that one coming."

Locke: "Boy. When you say beginning, you mean beginning."

Eko: "Don't mistake coincidence for fate." Now, that's interesting. Especially since Locke is so big with the fate thing.

Sawyer: "Am I in a bunk bed?"

Kate: "Do you see that?"
Sawyer: "You mean the big ass horse standing in the middle of the jungle there? Yeah."

This was the best of the Kate back stories, at least so far, and it was great to have Sawyer back. Three out of four polar bears,

Billie
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Billie Doux loves good television and spends way too much time writing about it.

10 comments:

  1. Now, I’m confused. This is the second woman in two weeks that has committed murder and we are meant to be sympathetic? As Billie says, there are many other options to dealing with life’s problems. I would have liked to see more of Kate’s motivation and why she felt there was no other option. Or is it, as her father says, that she simply has “murder in her heart.” I was also surprised that her father assumed that Kate would kill her stepfather if she knew the truth. That seems to me to be an odd assumption when telling someone about a biological parent, but maybe it’s just me.

    I’m also a tad nonplussed by the Jack/Kate kiss. It felt off to me, as it obviously did to her. And, wow, but I hope you’re wrong about Jack being attracted to Ana. He needs to find a woman who doesn’t use murder to solve her problems.

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  2. I'd like to add my voice to the chorus of being uncomfortable with Kate's back-story. I don't think it's very spoilery to say that it doesn't really mesh with her fore-story, either. Or her now-story.

    In other words, I don't think she has murder in her heart. Throughout the show, from the very pilot, she's been horrified by death, wounds, and people in pain. She's extremely sympathetic to the feelings of others. Yeah, she's a bit of a schemer. But a cold-blooded murderer? Because she's ashamed of her father's actions? Eh.

    Anyway: tequila and tonic? That sounds disgusting.

    Locke and Ecko are a fun pair.

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  3. Josie - tequila and tonic is actually pretty good. The only thing better is tequila and champagne - but one pays the price for that one!

    :-)

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  4. Again, if the writers are trying to get me to be more sympathetic towards Kate, it's certainly not working.

    When she was talking to Sawyer, she clearly killed Wayne because of how he made her feel, a totally self centered motivation. Not because of the way Wayne looked at her, not because he beat her mom, but only because of Kate not being able to get past her own personal feelings of self loathing.

    Horrible reason to kill someone, especially since the insurance policy wasn't going to hold up after the incident was investigated, and Kate's mom would have nothing.

    I wonder how Kate would have felt if her mother had killed a boyfriend Kate loved, simply because she thought the guy was bad for her.

    Total one sided selfishness, and I don't think I'll ever feel anything but "meh" towards Kate's character.

    On the positive side, I could watch scenes with Eko in them all day. Wonderful character and wonderful delivery of lines.

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  5. Kate is so hard to read,always. She is selfish and caring at the same time,is so afraid to mess up.
    Right from the start she was so attracted to both of men,Sawyer reminded her to Wayne(the abusive father),Jack reminded het to Sam(the caring and loving daddy).
    She was obviously afraid to disappoint Jack,she was afraid to be too bad for Jack and hurt him,she ran from her pure feelings for the Doc. She ran to the easy way out,Sawyer,her dark part(the black horse).

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  6. Sawyer's resemblance in type to Wayne, and to what Kate hated about herself, completely explained her schizoid attraction and rejection of Sawyer. At the same time, the damaged child in her always recognized the damaged child in him. They really are well matched, more than I ever realized. Kate has always wanted to be attracted to Jack (hence the surprise jungle smoochies) but I don't think she is.

    Kate, Sawyer and Jack were all emotionally damaged children. The problem with Kate around this time is that she saw Jack as ideal. When she finally began to realize that he was as flawed in his own way, she tried to reject him . . . and realized that she still loved him.

    As for Kate and Sawyer, I'm glad that never materialized. I think Kate was more like her father (actually a lot worse) than she realized. She had a tendency to be slightly abusive toward Sawyer - both emotionally and physically. And the idea of Kate falling in love with a man who reminded her of her father is a bit icky to me.

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  7. "What Kate Did": NOTHING WRONG!!!!! Shame on all'a yez!
    But seriously while I do agree that it's a flimsy reason to blow up a house with your "step"dad still in it, I just still appreciate that she wasn't given an indisputably justified backstory for her murder. Even though some details aren't adding up... but I'm so sick of that 'sympathetic villainess' crap. And also her mother's even worse than Shannon's IMO. I can't stand her. Weak, tolerant-about-the-wrong-things, useless... bitch.

    Eko: "Hello. There is something I think you should see. If you don't mind, I will start at the beginning. Long before Christ, the king of Judah was a man named Josiah."
    Locke: "Boy, when you say beginning, you mean... beginning!"
    I'm surprised this showed up in your review lol because I figured it's just one of those oddly specific things I inexplicably loved. The delivery of it, or something. Locke's actor rules.

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  8. ChrisB, I did eventually try tequila and tonic, only because of you comment here.

    It is not for me. Bleh!

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  9. As someone that struggles to connect with Kate’s character, I really appreciate the comments to this episode. Helps to see her in a different light, and to recognize that not all trauma is created equal, or reacted to equally. Still really don’t love her backstory but will look at it differently going forward.

    Eko and Locke, a greater pairing ne’er there was…

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  10. I thought Kate's background was a perfect reflection of her personality, especially her flaws. Why should she be ideal or near ideal, when the majority of the characters are just as flawed and just as capable of monstrous acts. Including Jack. It's why Jacob had drawn Oceanic 815 to the island in the first place.

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